Post by jazz on Dec 5, 2009 19:34:23 GMT -5
A few months ago I was startled to read this thread, anyportinastorm.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=books&thread=2664&page=1#49061
My initial reaction was...Vargas, the great 40's illustrator of voluptuous women wrote suspense novels? No. 'Fred Vargas' is Frederique Audouin-Rouzeau and is regarded as "the hottest property in contemporary French crime fiction". She is 52, and has a twin sister, Jo Vargas, who is a French painter of note. Fred took her 'nom de plume' from the Ava Gardner character in The Barefoot Contessa...she also has her degrees in history and anthropology and has been published in both fields.
That weekend I went to the library and took out all of Fred's novels in english that I could get...5. Well, I spent the entire weekend reading and eating and loving her work. Of them all, I think that The Chalk Circle Man is her masterpiece. Actually, I think it is a masterpiece of the suspense/crime genre. She works on many levels and her characters are unusually full for this genre. Commissaire Adamsberg is fascinating, as are his co workers. I was ridiculously flattered when my friend decided that Fred's character 'Mathilde' reminded her of me. If you haven't read them, you may want to .
More about Fred:
www.eurocrime.co.uk/books/books_by_fred_vargas.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Vargas
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/18/italy.france
www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/fred-vargas-french-crime-writing-at-its-best-435405.html
My initial reaction was...Vargas, the great 40's illustrator of voluptuous women wrote suspense novels? No. 'Fred Vargas' is Frederique Audouin-Rouzeau and is regarded as "the hottest property in contemporary French crime fiction". She is 52, and has a twin sister, Jo Vargas, who is a French painter of note. Fred took her 'nom de plume' from the Ava Gardner character in The Barefoot Contessa...she also has her degrees in history and anthropology and has been published in both fields.
That weekend I went to the library and took out all of Fred's novels in english that I could get...5. Well, I spent the entire weekend reading and eating and loving her work. Of them all, I think that The Chalk Circle Man is her masterpiece. Actually, I think it is a masterpiece of the suspense/crime genre. She works on many levels and her characters are unusually full for this genre. Commissaire Adamsberg is fascinating, as are his co workers. I was ridiculously flattered when my friend decided that Fred's character 'Mathilde' reminded her of me. If you haven't read them, you may want to .
More about Fred:
www.eurocrime.co.uk/books/books_by_fred_vargas.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Vargas
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/18/italy.france
www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/fred-vargas-french-crime-writing-at-its-best-435405.html
...
Let the riot begin! LOL - 
hahahha